Happiness is defined in so many ways. My children are delighted to have so many family members staying with them for Thanksgiving. Cidnie is all about babysitting and baby’s so she’s in 7th Heaven:

And Taylor is delighted that Grandma lets him help her with her needlework:

These are the quiet moments that make mom’s heart happy.

There are a lot of other things going on right now that make them happy too, like having more playmates to rock out with Rock Band, the Wii games, board games, not to mention play at the park. Today they’re getting out of a half day of school to come home and play. Yes, there are lots of reasons to smile this week.

For us, happiness is most easily defined with one word - family.

Technorati Tags:
Family Sharing Holidays Memories

This is one of my favorite things about Arizona:

This year has been one of new technologies and tools for me. I thought it was time to share an update about those items and how they’ve impacted my life.

It started with my iPod for Mother’s Day. That was a fun surprise and for the first time in my life I found myself buying music! You have to know my history to understand why this is a big deal. Suffice it to say, while my dad has always been a music collector (his record collection to this day could supply its own vintage store) and my friends all had wonderful personal collections, I had none growing up nor did I have the resources to start my own. My music control was limited to the FM radio and local stations. It’s like I’m making up for lost time these many years later. I now have my own collection, multiple ways to enjoy it and far too much enticement and ease adding to it. Suffice it to say the new Genius playlist function of iTunes is brilliant and dangerous!

Then my computer crashed and the move was made from the world of PC to the iMac. I’d need much more time and space to share my thoughts on this transition! Let’s just say that for one who spends as much time on a computer as me that this new tool is making my life so incredibly enjoyable and productive!

Next came the Kindle. Many people still don’t know what this is and I keep telling them that you really have to see it to appreciate and ‘get’ it. I now enjoy reading in a whole new light. I have instant access to more books than I could read in a lifetime, not to mention other printed sources. I can take notes, do searches, look up words and a thousand more things while I read with ease. Moreover I have in one small device several bookshelves worth of materials and literature constantly at my fingertips. It’s wonderful not to have to store and carry around so many extra books, yet still have them readily available to reference and use. I love my Kindle.

And finally we reach my latest new tool, my iPhone. This might rival the requirements for sharing thoughts on my iMac. Suffice it to say I can’t believe I lived so long without it and all its amazing resources. Saturday morning as we were out and about running errands, I easily checked e-mail and approved blog comments. It was a wonderful feeling to be able to do that in the simple downtime minutes of waiting in check out lines, etc. If I thought my iMac simplified the steps and ways to do things you can imagine my joy over experiencing this ten fold with my iPhone. And I still don’t know but a fraction of its capabilities and uses, although I’m finding it harder and harder to think of it as a phone. *giggle*

Now if I could just find a comparable tool or gadget for all tasks in the motherhood and homemaker department!

Technorati Tags:
Sharing Positive Impact Balance Blogging

Yesterday was a milestone for my son. He lost his first tooth.

He proudly told and showed everyone the remainder of the evening about his newest accomplishment. Mom still squirms a bit thinking about helping him get it out, but the smile was worth it. I’m glad I got a picture for him because it was the only thing that made it okay for him to go to school this morning. Apparently, having the tooth to show his classmates was a very big deal to him and although he was happy for what he found under his pillow he woke up sad that his tooth was gone. Having a picture of it was a wonderful solution to his new dilemma, he even proudly showed dad how the printed copy was the same size as his hand.

Now for anyone who has ever wondered the truth about the toothfairy, I share my son’s most logical reasoning from last night. I should preface that when I tucked him in he stated ever so simply how moms and dads put the money under the pillow. A little taken back I asked where he’d heard that and he just rolled his eyes telling me everyone knew that. So I was anxious to hear what Blake learned during his nightly hug. What he shared was classic. So without further adieu, from the mouth of a child here’s the real deal:

“The parents put the money under the pillow. The toothfairy takes the tooth to give to other kids who need it.”

Technorati Tags:
Family Funnies Sharing Motherhood

Look closely, that’s my Cid posing with her hand on Troy’s. Mom is still recovering from the opening night squeal headache!

Technorati Tags:
Family Motherhood Wordless Wednesday

You’ve got to love going to start a new article only to find you’ve already used that title before! I find that happening more and more the longer I blog. *grins*

So it’s Monday morning and I find myself asking where to start the new day and week. Not that any one day is more important than another, but for me Monday is pretty critical. It has the power to set the tone for my productivity and pace for the remainder of the work week. Therefore, it often gets more of my organizing attention than other weekdays. Today I’m sifting through the many things that I want and need to do, balancing it with the time available and trying to define the best attack.

I’ve noticed a pattern in my life where tasks and to do lists seem to cycle. I’ve gotten much better over the years at doing enough of the critical stuff often enough to keep the list floating instead of sinking with regards to the quantity of items on it. This has come from the learned value of discipline in consistently devoting small sections of times to various tasks. This is great, but the self-discipline often wanes especially when it comes to doing the things I enjoy. When this happens, I find that the list gets heavier and heavier as I continue to spend more time procrastinating things by keeping at the things I enjoy doing. Eventually the weight bothers me enough to do something about it again. That’s where I am this morning.

And so I begin where every good story must - deciding the purpose and defining a path. In short, prioritizing the list. Ironically, the time when this job becomes the most important is most often the time when you feel it’s not as pressing or urgent. Why is it that the up times of progress and ease are the times when we most often fall off the wagon? I guess that’s the reality of why trials are required for our continue progress, sometimes they are all that will move us from our procrastination point of comfort. I also find at this point that there’s a bit of illusion in keeping your task list floating; almost a false sense of security. It’s amazing how much the non-critical items can suddenly carry more weight and influence that the bigger critical ones, especially when allowed to build. Perhaps that’s just the nature of things, that non-critical things remain that way until they themselves by sheer volume begin to carry more weight? I’m not sure. I only know that today my list feels heavy even though the things on it are not really that important or big.

So where will you begin? How do you define your lists of task for a new week?

Technorati Tags:
Organizing Balance Blogging

This is one part of motherhood you’re glad you missed when you signed up, or you wouldn’t have signed up! You know those little details like you getting to help a child pull out their first tooth, losing sleep, having to keep a straight face when they explore new words that you’re responsible for teaching are NOT funny or appropriate, and my personal favorite getting thrown up on in the middle of the night.

And why am I writing about this wonderful fine print this morning? You guessed it, I got a reminder in the wee hours this morning. It was completely unannounced and oh so wonderful. When my son came in our room complaining of a bad dream neither of us had the strength, desire or energy to do more than put him in the middle of our bed. This worked great until an hour or so later when I heard that most formidable sound. I sat straight up and asked him if he was throwing up. I got my answer with the next sound and spatters hitting my face. In case I never mentioned it, I don’t do throwing up.

It took at least 2-3 rounds of telling Blake to turn the light on before he responded and realized it was a rather big deal to get the light on and why. By then I’d managed to do most of the damage control with my son’s pillow and there wasn’t much left by the time Blake came to enough to grab the garbage. At least I got clean sheets out of it, though not in a way I recommend.

So now he’s playing Batman Legos and doing okay. I’m falling asleep at my computer and it’s only 9:30. Cidnie forgot her flute in the mad morning rush so I’ve already made two trips to school. Yes, this is the fine print of motherhood that’s best left in rarely seen or experienced form.

Technorati Tags:
Family Funnies Motherhood

Looks like those hard hours at work dad put into helping build it paid off!

Technorati Tags:
Family Parenting Emotions

…And you eat green worms! We learned these lines as children on the playground, or at least something like them. Our parents and teachers frequently quoted lines about how it’s not a competition, not to say anything if you can’t say anything nice and do unto others as you would have done unto you. But this human trait hangs on with brute force. Too often, what was said was not shown, or at least not consistently by those mentoring adults.

This morning I’m reflecting on some recent things I’ve heard my daughter’s friends say. Mostly, they’re things of little consequence but the feeling of telling the world I’ve got the biggest stick and I’m better than you make the ugly trait clearly visible. Sometimes I hear her adding adjectives and attitude that are a mirror reflection of her friends. I know every person struggles with this balance, it still makes me sad though.

The timing is coincidental for such conversations. I’ve been reading some of the thoughts shared by the two presidential candidates now that the election is over this morning. I echo what my husband said last night when he said, “We needed to see more of that on the campaign trail.” The reality is in so many ways we continue as adults to tout those familiar lines from childhood, to raise ourselves by putting others down at least until a victory cry is determined. Then we pull an about face, put all that behind us and talk positively of the other guy. I suppose it’s at least a silver lining that this point is reached, but somehow it just doesn’t feel right to me. I’m grateful that grace paid a visit to the stage of the election, but I’m sick for the example and repeated pattern shown right up to the moment of decision, in short that she wasn’t present for the entire process. I for one was ready to have the entire election over before it began, let alone after a few weeks or months of it. I have no stomach for it.

How can we really teach our kids to speak kindly, not be judgmental and walk a higher road if we ourselves aren’t willing to do the same? It cannot be a lesson of do as I say, not as I do. Example always speaks louder than words. The wording may have changed, perhaps even grown smoother over time, but the underlying beast of competitive meanness remains.

I don’t want to have it said of me one day that it was nice to finally have grace enter the stage of my life and interactions with others but it would have been nicer to have had more of it all along the way. I don’t want my kids to hear me spout off the rules of compassion and social interaction only to ignore them with my example. At the end of the day, does it really matter who’s dad is bigger or what someone else eats?

Technorati Tags:
Emotions Positive Impact Relationships Perspectives Deep Thoughts

So yesterday I was out and about catching up on friend and family blogs and saw my sister-in-law had shared results for one of those fun personality quizzes. As I read the responses I was thinking how accurate it seemed for what I know of her. So naturally, I had to take a stab at it.

Okay, I admit I was a little disappointed. I was pulling for a big name Marilyn or Jackie. Honestly, I’m sure there are aspects of my personality and seasons of my life when I would have identified with both! *snort* Katharine was never my favorite actress, but in her defense I only really knew the old, wheezy Katharine. She, like so many actresses was stunning in her youth. At any rate, as I read the points of the character I had to nod my head in agreement with many of them. These silly little quizzes always seem to surprise me in some way about how they can hit a chord or two with such accuracy. I never thought you could so easily identify people with standard questions and assessments. Maybe we’re not as complicated as we like to think?

Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz…

You Are a Katharine!

You are a Katharine — “I am happy and open to new things”

Katharines are energetic, lively, and optimistic. They want to contribute to the world.

How to Get Along with Me

* * Give me companionship, affection, and freedom.
* * Engage with me in stimulating conversation and laughter.
* * Appreciate my grand visions and listen to my stories.
* * Don’t try to change my style. Accept me the way I am.
* * Be responsible for yourself. I dislike clingy or needy people.
* * Don’t tell me what to do.

What I Like About Being a Katharine

* * being optimistic and not letting life’s troubles get me down
* * being spontaneous and free-spirited
* * being outspoken and outrageous. It’s part of the fun.
* * being generous and trying to make the world a better place
* * having the guts to take risks and to try exciting adventures
* * having such varied interests and abilities

What’s Hard About Being a Katharine

* * not having enough time to do all the things I want
* * not completing things I start
* * not being able to profit from the benefits that come from specializing; not making a commitment to a career
* * having a tendency to be ungrounded; getting lost in plans or fantasies
* * feeling confined when I’m in a one-to-one relationship

There were two more sections on being a Katharine as a child and a parent but neither section struck much that fit for me. But there were enough things in the first few sections that nailed it that I decided to leave those. So what do you think? Do you find these online quizzes to strike a chord here and there for you or is it just me?

Try your luck.

Technorati Tags:
Blogging Sharing